Town Square

Death of cyclist who fell on Sand Hill Road ruled 'accidental'

Original post made
on Dec 31, 2007

Deborah Johnson, the 51-year-old Palo Alto bicyclist who died July 24 in Stanford Hospital after falling off her bike in Menlo Park two days earlier, died accidentally, according to a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County coroner's office.

Posted by Dr. Greg Wright
a resident of another community
on Dec 31, 2007 at 6:00 am

Motorists need to slow down and expect cyclists on the roads. They have every right to the roads that motorists have. Cyclists need to ride single file and obey the same traffic rules as motorists. How tough is that to do, really?

Posted by John Doe
a resident of Portola Valley: other
on Jan 18, 2008 at 12:02 pm

The PV Loop is becoming quite a problem since I used to ride it years ago. The amt of bike traffic has increased many fold. While most riders do follow the rules of the road, many do not. Many times while driving the area I have had cyclists ride down the middle of the lane, thus blocking traffic. They often refuse to move over. As a cyclist myself I do understand that the rate of flats goes way up on the "other" side of the white line, but I'd rather save my life than save my tires. It is necessary for all cyclists to "stay to the right". Then there is the problem of the large groups of cyclists. Packs of 30 or more bikes riding en mass. They can take the entire width of the lane. This type of riding behavior is very offensive to motorists and gives all riders a bad name. I just pray the day never comes when one of our older residents (with slow reactions) plows into one of these large groups and ends many lives in one pass. We all have to work together to stay alive. Ride safe and obey the traffic laws.

Posted by Richard
a resident of another community
on Jan 19, 2008 at 4:37 pm

I generallly agree with Dr. Wright and John Doe, but there are still some problems. Obeying the traffic rules is harder than it may seem since most drivers and bicyclists don't really know what they are, and many of them are mistaken in their beliefs. John Doe recommends that bicyclists stay to the far right at ALL times, which is actually not safe and not required by law. There was a bicyclist killed in Portola Valley a few years ago at the intersection of Westridge and Portola Road (the westen end of Westridge). An elderly woman driver didn't see him and turned left from Portola onto Westridge in front of him. I saw him regularly, and he always kept to the far right and in this case it made it hard for the driver to see him.
When approaching an intersection like this the law (CVC 21202 a 4) allows bicyclists to leave the right edge of the road to protect their safety. There are three things that can be avoided by doing this: 1) A driver overtakes from behind and turns right in front of you, cutting you off. By moving to the left you make it clear that you are going straight and deter the "right hook", encouraging the driver to merge to the right behind you and turn from the right edge of the road as the law requires. 2) Many drivers coming from your right at intersections don't stop where they are required (behind the limit line or crosswalk) and stick the nose of their car into the intersection before they turn to look for traffic. By moving to the left you ensure that you will have some room between yourself and these cars, and when the drivers do turn to look in the middle of the lane for cars, you will be right where they are looking. 3) Drivers may turn left across in front of you, as happened at Westridge and Portola. You are more visible to drivers, who are primarily looking in the middle of the lane for cars, if you leave the right edge of the road. You also have more options for emergency maneuvers if you are in the middle of the lane instead of up against the edge of the road.
Of course bicyclists should generally stay to the right to avoid delaying automobile traffic, but when approaching intersections and driveways with limited visibility it is safe, legal and prudent to move to the left. I only wish that more drivers and bicyclists (and law enforcement officers) understood that, expected it and tolerated it.

To Citizen A, I might suggest the opposite: there are too many car drivers on the PV/Woodside loop. Cars can drive anywhere, even on roads not friendly to bikes, so they should go somewhere else.

...Sound silly? You sound silly too when you say there are too many bikes. I have rarely even experienced congestion in the bike lane on these roads. There are lots of cyclists, not "too many". This is one of the nicest loops for riders in the area.

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